Iran Says US 'Seeking Excuses' To Tear Up Nuclear Deal

The US is behaving in "an unconstructive and excuse-seeking" way, pursuing access to Iranian military sites looking for a way to abandon its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, he said.

Shamkhani said "Iran has no undisclosed nuclear activity in any geographical location in the country". However, the watchdog's director-general confirmed Iran's compliance with the pact.

"The issue of access to Iran's military sites is a closed case", Shamkhani concluded.

The secretary went on to accuse the administration of US President Donald Trump of "unconstructive and excuse-seeking behavior... which is an active attempt to damage this worldwide agreement". "The US should stop using sanctions as a tool in its foreign policy, and engage in interaction with the world".

"About time for U.S. to stop spinning and begin complying, just like Iran", the minister wrote.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on September 14 that Trump's suggestion that the nuclear deal should be renegotiated was "pure fantasy".

He said issues raised by the United States are "media hype by the Americans so that they can refrain from fulfilling their obligations".

According to ABC's sources, however, Trump remains determined to find ways to declare Iran in noncompliance with the deal by a separate mid-October deadline that could jeopardize further sanctions relief and potentially implode the deal altogether.

"They have violated so many different elements, but they've also violated the spirit of that deal".

Trump's choice of words was nothing new.

However, Washington's lobbying failed to affect the IAEA's latest quarterly report in late August, which once again that Iran has lived up to its commitments under the nuclear deal.

After the president grudgingly recertified the agreement in July, he commissioned a team whose sole goal consisted of unearthing Iranian violations so that Trump could justify reversing himself the deal in October - even though doing so would not, in and of itself, kill the deal.

The United States is expected Thursday to announce that it will extend sanctions relief for Iran under the landmark nuclear deal struck with world powers in 2015, according to U.S. media reports, though a decision by President Donald Trump on whether to ultimately preserve the deal has not yet been made.

This as the Treasury Department imposes new limitations against several Iranian individuals and companies, citing their support of Iran's' ballistic missile program and cyber attacks against the U.S.